Court Issues Favorable Decision For Sheppard Mullin, Diablo Grande
U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb of the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, ruled in favor of the defendant on all issues. Shubb's decision lets stand a June 2001 permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Diablo Grande.
Plaintiffs had sought both preliminary and permanent relief alleging that the U.S. Army Corps had issued Diablo Grande a section 404 permit in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. The project conditions include placing conservation easements on nearly 2600 acres of land.
Russ Newman, Diablo Grande's general counsel, commented, "The case was critical to Diablo Grande. We expended over $160 million to develop the community and an adverse decision could have halted the construction of hundreds of planned homes and caused the loss of several hundred jobs. We are obviously pleased that our position has been completely vindicated."
About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Sheppard Mullin is a national law firm with more than 400 attorneys and eight offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, San Diego, Santa Barbara, West Los Angeles, Del Mar Heights, and Washington, D.C. The full-service firm provides legal expertise and counsel for U.S. and international clients in a wide range of practice areas, including Corporate; Entertainment and Media; Finance; Government Contracts; Intellectual Property; Labor and Employment; Litigation; Real Estate/Land Use; and Tax, Trusts and Estate Planning. The firm was founded in 1927.